Door holder



June 24, 1930. Q WQ WELLS msss DooR HOLDER Filed May 24, 1928 /f l /Jf//f" /4/ Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT ol-FlcE GEORGE W.WELLS, OF AMESBUR', MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 WALKER BODYCOMPANY, OF AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, A OORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS DOORHOLDER This invention relates to that class of door holding deviceswhich are generally used for preventing the rattling of doors of' closedbody automobiles and are frequently referred to as dove tails land asantirattlers.

Devices of this character in general use are of different types,probably the most common of which comprise a wedge shaped projectionmounted on the edge of the doo-r and a correspondingly shaped socketmounted on the jamb into which the wedge is forcedl at the 'end of theclosing movement of the door. These devices, to be effective,

must so coordinate with the latch of the door that the full wedgingeffect is secured at the point where the latch locks the door infullyclosed position, assuming that the ordinary type of latch isemployed. To

2o secure this coordination,A the sides of the socket into which thewedge is forced is usually made of rubber, or like yieldable material,which in time loses its resiliency and to avoid this diiculty springactuated means have been employed, an example of which is illustrated inmy prior Patent 1,612,480. Aside fromcertain manufacturing difficulties,an inherent objection to a door holder of this type is 'that itnecessaril permits some' upward or downward yiel ing, either or both, ofthe door, in its fully* closed position, which is likely to result inrattling under some conditions. While all up and down vibration of thedoor in its casing may be prevented by having a rigid door member becomewedged between a pair of rigid holding members on the casing, it hasnot, prior to my invention, b'een considered practical to employ holding40 members both of which were rigid or unyielding vertically, forseveral reasons, principally 'because of the impossibility as apractical matter, ofvsetting the latch and theholding means in relativeositions in which the door will latch at te point at which the doormember wedges firmly between the two holding members.' The practicalimpossibility of doing this is not only due to the difficulty a workmanwould have 5o in coordinating these parts perfectly at the 1928. SerialNo. 280,123.

time of installation, but, in order that thelatch may be forced by itsspring into firm engagement with its holding abutment, the door usuallymust-be forced inward slightly beyond its normal closed position, sothat the latch ma limit, after w ich the door will move outward untilthe latch firmly engages its abutment, and, assuming that the doorholding means wedges firmly at the end of thej inwardl movement of thedoor, the wedging engagement would be somewhat loosened by this outwardmovement. Moreover, some allowance must be made for wear of engagingparts and some cushioning means would need to be provided to prevent thetoo sudden stopping of the closing movement of the door.

The objects of my invention areto provide a door-holding device, of thegeneral character above referred to, which, when the door is fullyclosed, will positively and unyieldably lock the door against any up ordown movement in the jamb, and which is at the same time adapted toperform this function within a range of positions, so that it will beunnecessary for the holding be forced outward to its device to be setexactly in a certain position with relation to the locking position ofthe door, but will permit an approximate location thereof with referencethereto without substantial effect on the desired results of positivelyholding the ldoor against' all up or down movement in the ]amb. Also,which will permit the door to close to a sulicient extent to permit thelatch to move outward freely to its fullest extent, and will cushion theclosing movement of the door", and, at the same time, permit the partsto become worn to a reasonable extent without detracting from theefficiency of the holding means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction, for theaboveg, described purpose, which may be manufactured without diflicultyand without substantial, if any, increased expense, as cpmpared withthat required for simllar devloes.,

I accomplish these objects primarily by providing, in combination with la rigid wedge-shaped projecting lug on the door, an inwardly yieldablerigid metal wedge, which slidably engages one side of a recess in thejamb and is arranged to be engaged at the opposite side by the lug,while the opposite side of the latter from the wedge enga-ges theopposite side of the recess, so that the lug is firmly and unyieldablywedged between the opposite sides of the recess in the jamb.

For a more complete description of the invention, reference is made tothe following specification, in connection with the accompanying drawingin which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a door and its casing,provided with an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of a portion of the inner face of the door jamb.

Fig. 3 is a similar view with certain parts broken away.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail side and front views of the casing member.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the door member.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of the locking wedge.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view, on a reduced scale, at line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing 10 indicates t-he edge portion, opposite the hinges, of ahorizontally swln 1n0r door and 12 the jamb ortion of g e P the casingcorresponding thereto, said doorA being provided with any common form ofspring-actuated latch 14, which engages in a corresponding recess 15 inthe casing when the door is closed.

According to my invention a metal lug 16 is rigidly mounted on the edgeof the doorin position to project right angularly thereto, orhorizontally, the under side of said lug having a flat, horizontallydisposed face 17, which is formed continuously with an upwardlyinclined, slightly rounded face 18 at the rear side of the lug or sidewhich is next the bottom ot the jamb when the door is closed. l The topside 19 of the lug is disposed in a plane which inclines downward fromits front side, at an angle of approximately 30o to the horizontal, tomeet the inclined face 18 in a horizontal edge.

The jamb portion opposite the lug 16 is recessed to receive a metalcasing 20, which is rigidly secured thereto, said casing being formed toprovide a recess which is open at its front end and has a horizontal topside 21 and horizontal bottom side 22, and the inner end of which isclosed by a vertical wall 23. A wedge 24 is disposed in said recess,said wedge consisting of a rigid sheet metal piece bent to provide ahorizontal top wall 25, which is held Hat against, and in slidingengagement with Ithe top side 21 of the casing recess, a bottom wall 26,which is inclined downward from front to rear at the same angle as theangle of inclination of the top face 19 of the lug, connecting outerside wall 27, and a front wall 28, which is preferably normally locatedadjacent the front side of the casing. A post 30, having a head 31 atits outer end, extends thru the front wall 28` in parallel relation tothe top side 21, or horizontally, and ris rigidly mounted at its innerend in the inner end wall 23 of the casing. A. coil spring 32 isarranged on the post 30 between the end wall 23 of the casing and theinner side of the front wall 28 of the wedge and normally holds theouter side of said wall 28 in engagement with the head 31 of the post30, which thus serves as a stop, the normal position of the wedge beingindicated in Fig. 4.

The casing 20 is enclosed by an outer plate 34 for the purpose primarilyof giving the installation a finished appearance. Said plate 34 acts toconfine the wedge 24 byV engaging its outer side 27, thereby providingan additional guiding means therefor. The relative arrangements aresuch, that, when the door is swung to closed position, the inclined face18 of the lug 16 will usually engage the outer end of the bottom side 22of the casing recess and cause a slight lifting of the door, so that,when the under side 17 ofthe lug passes onto the side 22, the door willbe firmly supported thereon. When the door is within approximately fromsay lg to 1/4 of its fully closed position, in which it will be latched,the inclined top face 19 of the'wedge will engage the inclined bottomface 26 of the wedge, so that, on further inward or closing movement,the wedge will be pushed inward against the action of the spring 32until the door becomes latched and locks it against opening movement, asindicated in Fig. 3.

When the lug 16 engages the wedge 24, as the lug is rigidly supported atits under side, its wedging action will cause the wedge to be forcedupward, so that its top side 25 will be firmly held againstgthe top side21 of the casing, and this condition will continue during the furtherclosing movement of the door, and while the vertical pressure may beincreased somewhat by the increased pressure due to the action of thespring 32, in all positions in which the lug 16 is irmly engaged withthe wedge 24, the lug, and consequently the door to which it is rigidlyattached, will be lirmly locked against vertical movement relatively tothe casing, so that there is no possibility of yielding action betweenthe door'and casing or rattling of the door therein, when the door is inlocked position.

lt will be apparent that there may be some variation in the relativeposition of the door holding means in relation to the latching meanswithout adecting the results secured,

also, that the door may move inward beyond its normal closed position,so'that the latch may be moved out, and that the closing 'movement ofthe door will be cushioned, at

its end, and that reasonable wear of the parts will be permitted,without in anyway affecting the eiciency of the holding means. Thedevice may also be employed in con- I nection with a latch which holdsthe door closed in several positions, within certain the door open whenunlatched.

The construction is simple and may be manufactured without diiiculty, asmost of the parts may be produced from suitably bent sheet metal.

I claim:

l 1. -In combination with a horizontally swinging door having ahorizontally projecting lug rigidly mounted thereon, a casinghaving arecessl into which said lug is arranged to pass when the door is closed,said recess having horizontally disposed top and bottom sides and saidlug being arranged to engage said bottom side and support the door, awedge mounted to move horizontally in said recess with its top sideengaged with the top side of said recess and having an inclined face atits bottom side arranged for engagement by the top side .of said lug,when the lug is'engaged with the bottom side of said recess, to hold thelug against upward movement from its door supporting position.

2. In combination with a horizontally swinging door having ahorizontally projecting lug rigidly mounted thereon, a casing having arecess provided with horizontally disposed top and bottom sides, and awedging device mounted to move horizontally in said recess with its topside engaged with the top side of said recess, the bottom side of saiddevice being arranged to exi tend divergentl'y with relation to the topside of the recess as it extends rearwardly, and means including aspring for holding said wedgi-ngdevice in an outer position, said lugbeing arranged for engagement at its bottom side'with the bottom side ofsaid recess, to support the door and thereafter at its top side with thebottom side of said' wed ing device, to lock the door against upwarmovement as it is moved into its fully closed position.

3. In combination with a horizontally swinging door, a jamb having arecess provided with horizontally disposed top andl the door.

bottom sides, a latch for holding inv closed position, a wedge havlngits top side slidably engaged with the top side of said recess andhaving its bottom side extending divergently inward relatively thereto,`a spring for normally holding said wedge in an outer position, ahorizontally projecting lug rig1dly mounted on the door a'nd so arrangedthat, as the door is closed, the bottom'side of the lug will slidablyengage the bottom side of said recess and slightly lift the door so asto support the same and its top side will thereafter engage the bottomside of the wedge and saidspring will yield to permit the wedge to bemoved inward until the door is latched, to hold the door rigidly againstupward movement from its supported position when in latched position.

4. In combination with a horizontally swinging door, a jamb having arecess provided with horizontally disposed top and bottom slides, awedge of rigid material disposed in said recess with its top sideslidably engaged with the top side of the recess and having itsbottomside extending divergently to the top side from its outer end,means including a spring normally acting to hold c said wedge in anouter position, and a horizontally'projecting lug rigidly mounted on thedoor and having a face on its bottom side arranged for slidingengagement with the bottom side of said recess to support the door as itis moved to closed position and having its top side inclinedtocorrespond to the inclination of the bottom side of the wedge and soarranged that said inclined sides will be engaged and said wedge movedinward during the latter portion of said closing movement of the door. l

5. In combination with a horizontally swinging door, a jambhaving arecess provided. with horizontally disposed top and bottom sides, awedge of rigid material disposed in said recess with the top sidethereof slidably engaged with the top side of said recess and its bottomside extending divergently relatively thereto from its outer end, a postmounted on the jamb at the rear end of said recess, and extending thrusaid wedge to its front side, `said post providing a guiding means forthe wedge in its sliding move'- ment and having a stop at its outer-endfor limiting the outward movement of the wedge, a spring on said Vpostfor normally holding the wedge against said stop, and a horizontallyprojecting 1u rigidly mounted on the door and arranged or slidingengage-1 ing horizontally movable to a latched position in the jainbmember, and one of said members having a lrecess provided with Ytop* theother member and arranged to be suc- `cessively engaged at one side withsaid supporting face, to support the door member as Y it is moved intothe j amb member, and at its opposite side with the oblique side of saidwedging member, to lock the door member yield inwardlyto permit the doorto move to its fully closed position.,

ln testimony whereof, l have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE w. WELLS.

against upward movement from its supp ported position said wedgingdevice being adapted thereafter to yield to permit the door tobe movedinto its latched position.

7 In combination with a door member and its jamb member, said doormember being horizontally movable to a latch posi-y tiony in the jambmember, and one of said members having a recess provided with top andbottom faces, consisting of a horizontal supporting face and a holdingface, a rigid wedging device disposed in said recess and slidablyengaged at .one side with said holding face and having its opposite sideextending obliquely towards said supporting face 'from its outer end, alugrigidly mounted on the other member and arranged to be successivelyengaged at one side with said supporting face, the side of said lug andthe face o at their points of yinitial engagement and arranged to causea slight lifting action on the door, and thereafter provide a rigidsupport therefor durin the remainder of its closing movement, andtheopposite side of said lug being arranged to be engaged with saidoblique side of the wedgin device before the door reaches the end o itsclosing movement, so that durin the remainder of said movement-saiddevice may yield and may lock said lug against' the face with lwhich itis engaged and prevent further lifting action of the door. 7

`8. In combination with a horizontally l swinging door and its jamb,said jamb having a recess provided'with an inwardly lextending,horizbntally disposed bottom face and a top face disposed thereover, a'rigid wedging device disposed in said recess and having its top sideslidably engaged with said said recess being relatively inclined topface and its bottom side extending obliquely .towards said supportingface from its outer end, anda lug rigidly mounted on said door andarranged to be .moved into said recess as the door is closed and engageits bottom side with said bottom face, and cause a. slight liftingaction on the door and rigidly support the same and thereafter engageits top'side with the bottom side of said wedging device, to lock thedoor against upward movement from its supported posix tion, said wedgingdevicebeing adapted to

